Community News & Updateshttp://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/default.aspxenCommunityServer 2008.5 SP1 (Debug Build: 31106.3070)March's "Sewing Maching Wisdom" Survey Winnershttp://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2010/04/10/march-s-quot-sewing-maching-wisdom-quot-survey-winners.aspxSat, 10 Apr 2010 20:29:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:72440QCA Admin4http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2010/04/10/march-s-quot-sewing-maching-wisdom-quot-survey-winners.aspx#comments<p>Our March Member Survey question <strong>&quot;What do you look for in a sewing machine?&quot;</strong> prompted the largest response we have recieved so far! </p>
<p>Here are the responses from the three winners picked at random from all the responses we received:</p>
<p><strong>Regina Hobbs</strong> includes testing machines out as one of her criteria:<br />I listen to the machines - I like the steady hum of an even sounding motor, not one that&#39;s labored or sounding like it&#39;s in high gear; I listen to conversations and comments of others who own the machines I&#39;m interested in; I look at the stitches for evenness; I try multi stitches to see how easy it is to adjust tension or not; I look at the price and what goes with the edition I want to buy versus one above and one below that model if it applies; I look for free classes offered to teach me how to use the machine; I look for local dealers. I want the most machine for my money for my usage.</p>
<p><strong>Leslie Kendrick</strong> emphasizes getting the machine with the right number of features for your needs:<br />The first thing to do is to find a reputable quilt shop and&nbsp;dealer&nbsp; who offers sales and service that will help you learn through lessons or just support to use the machine and be there if you have any problem with it.&nbsp; Good service is very valuable.&nbsp; Get to know the staff and be sure&nbsp;the shop is one you can enjoy and depend on for help and support.&nbsp;&nbsp;Discount stores do&nbsp;not give a sewer the support and quality they need.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Then decide what kind of sewing you will be doing - quilting, embroidery, clothing, etc.&nbsp; Next shop several brands to investigate their features and pick those that will best help you accomplish your sewing goal.&nbsp;It always helps to have a sewing friend to go to for advice.&nbsp;&nbsp;I think it is best to be careful to not &quot;overbuy&quot;&nbsp; by getting advanced features that one will not use.&nbsp; If one develops a desire for other features, it may be best to wait and trade up later, especially if shopping with a set budget. Getting a machine that is complicated to use will discourage a beginner.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p>
<p>Last, take your new machine home and read the manual and sew.&nbsp; &nbsp; This has worked for me.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Gail Maloney</strong> in Canton, Michigan shares her personal shopping experience:<br />Two years ago, after taking a twenty year hiatus from sewing and becoming an empty nester,&nbsp;I decided to take up my former favorite hobby, sewing!&nbsp; &nbsp; Believe me, a lot had changed in the sewing and quilting industry while I was raising a family.&nbsp; I&nbsp;decided to&nbsp;shop around for a new sewing/embroidery machine.&nbsp; My first&nbsp;research&nbsp;was done on the Internet.&nbsp; There are&nbsp;plenty of&nbsp;websites proclaiming or disclaiming the virtures of all the latest sewing machines.&nbsp; Overall, their number one recommendation was&nbsp;<strong>buy from the best&nbsp;dealer</strong>.&nbsp; &nbsp; </p>
<p>After taking copious notes,&nbsp;I attended a Sewing&nbsp;Convention held in my community.&nbsp;&nbsp; That way I could&nbsp;see numerous machines and talk to the local store owners to see what they had to offer in terms of sewing&nbsp;support, instruction,&nbsp;and maintenance.&nbsp; I also talked to&nbsp;their customers&nbsp;to hear&nbsp;what they had to say about their sewing machines and the dealer.&nbsp; Satisfied customers are key to making a wise choice when it comes to making a sewing machine purchase. &nbsp; </p>
<p>I am happy to say that my research paid off.&nbsp; I don&#39;t know which&nbsp;makes me happier; the new friends I have&nbsp;made at my sewing machine shop or my great new machine!&nbsp;&nbsp;If your sewing machine shop&nbsp;owner loves their job and&nbsp;shares all the latest techniques and technology, you will love your new machine.&nbsp;&nbsp; </p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=72440" width="1" height="1">Sewing Machine WisdomJoin the "Schnibbles Times Two" Quilt Contest!http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2010/02/28/join-the-quot-schnibbles-times-two-quot-quilt-contest.aspxMon, 01 Mar 2010 04:59:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:61247QCA Admin3http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2010/02/28/join-the-quot-schnibbles-times-two-quot-quilt-contest.aspx#comments<h2>Announcing Contest for Quilters</h2>
<p><strong>&nbsp;Moda Fabrics</strong> and <strong>That Patchwork Place<sup>&reg;</sup></strong> have teamed up to sponsor a quiltmaking contest with generous prizes to celebrate the publication of <i>Schnibbles Times Two</i> by Carrie Nelson, owner of Miss Rosie&#39;s Quilt Company. Contestants will submit quilts to participating shops, and each shop will select one finalist for the overall competition. The sponsors will select three winners who will &nbsp;each receive new books and current fabrics in a series of monthly shipments.</p>
<p><i><strong>1st place:</strong> </i>12 monthly shipments containing new <strong>That Patchwork Place</strong> quilting books and current Moda fabrics (total combined retail value: approximately $2,100)</p>
<p><i><strong>2nd place:</strong></i> 6 monthly shipments containing new <strong>That Patchwork Place</strong> quilting books and current Moda fabrics (total combined retail value: approximately $1,050)</p>
<p><i><strong>3rd place:</strong></i> 3 monthly shipments containing new <strong>That Patchwork Place</strong> quilting books and current Moda fabrics (total combined retail value: approximately $525)</p>
<p>Excitement among quilters is building already! The contest begins when <i>Schnibbles Times Two </i>arrives in quilt shops in the United States and Canada the week of April 19, 2010. For contest details, call 800-426-3126 or visit <a target="_blank" href="http://www.martingale-pub.com/">www.martingale-pub.com</a>.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=61247" width="1" height="1">contestCarrie NelsonSchnibblesThat Patchwork PlaceModaJanuary's "Desert Island" Survey Question Winnershttp://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2010/02/01/january-s-quot-desert-island-quot-survey-question-winners.aspxTue, 02 Feb 2010 03:59:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:55373QCA Admin5http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2010/02/01/january-s-quot-desert-island-quot-survey-question-winners.aspx#comments<p>January&#39;s survey question asked, &quot;<b>You are being exiled to a desert island and can only take 10 quilting items with you. What do you choose to take?</b>&quot; We got a lot of excellent, funny and surprising answers from everyone who responded. &nbsp;Congratulations to our three winners below. The winners of January&#39;s survey question (selected at random) each get $50 worth of Fons &amp; Porter notions. (Sorry, no trip to a desert island included!): </p>
<p><b>Pat Roberts</b> definitely plans to be connected on her desert island adventure:</p>
<p>&quot;How big can the items be? I would take my quilting room as it has everything I need. Otherwise, I would take my laptop, extra batteries&nbsp;and WiFi, (to access&nbsp;my favorite quilting web sites), my good scissors, rotary cutter,&nbsp;cutting mat,&nbsp;a bolt of fabric, a bolt of batting, needles and a jumbo spool of thread.&quot;</p>
<p>Member <b>pkraay</b> included both UFOs and new projects:</p>
<p>&quot;Hi, I would take:<br />1.) fabric<br />2.) patterns for English Paper Piecing<br />3.) scissors<br />4.) needles<br />5.) thread<br />6.) batting<br />7.) papers for English Paper Piecing<br />8.) straight pins<br />9.) all my UFO&#39;s waiting to be quilted<br />10.) all my quilting magazines to dream&quot;</p>
<p><b>Dot Bushman</b> from Threads etc. included lots of creature comforts (and a great sense of humor!) in her list:</p>
<p>&nbsp;&quot;1.&nbsp; My Grandma&#39;s treadle sewing machine (I rather doubt there is electricity)<br />2.&nbsp;&nbsp; My retreat&nbsp;cart (mind you it has everything you could ever want...almost needs a fork lift to move it)<br />3.&nbsp; &nbsp;A case of &quot;I Hate Ironing&quot;&nbsp;(Once again...no electricity.)<br />4.&nbsp;&nbsp; My stash (I have a wonderful stash...I own a quilt shop what do you expect?)<br />5.&nbsp; &nbsp;My tent&nbsp;(I hate bugs.)<br />6.&nbsp;&nbsp; My pillow (I love my pillow.)<br />7.&nbsp;&nbsp; A change of undies etc. (Tee hee)<br />8.&nbsp; &nbsp;A tool box (a big manly one with hammer, nails, saws, screws, wrenches etc.)<br />9.&nbsp;&nbsp; A ton of food (beverage included)<br />10.&nbsp;A ship to shore radio with extra batteries (so I can call my husband to bring me more supplies)&quot;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=55373" width="1" height="1">desert islandquilting essentialsIntroducing the QCA Quilters Dictionaryhttp://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2010/01/08/introducing-the-qca-quilters-dictionary.aspxFri, 08 Jan 2010 23:56:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:50021QCA Admin0http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2010/01/08/introducing-the-qca-quilters-dictionary.aspx#comments<p>
Normal
0
false
false
false
EN-US
X-NONE
X-NONE
MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
</p>
<h3>Half square triangles, Bargello quilts, fussy cutting, prairie points&hellip; Every
hobby has its share of specialized terminology&mdash;and quilting is no exception.
That&rsquo;s why we have launched a cool new feature on the QCA website called the <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><a href="http://dmiemail.quiltersclubofamerica.com/t/620826/77739411/258285/0/" target="_blank"><b>Quilter&#39;s Dictionary</b></a></span>.</h3>
<p style="text-align:center;" align="center"><img id="_x0000_i1025" src="http://www.fpimageserver.com/nl_img/QCANEWS/20100108/20100108_clip_image001.jpg" alt="Quilter&#39;s%20Dictionary" width="576" border="0" height="335" /></p>
<p>What makes this dictionary unique is that it is built using a &ldquo;wiki,&rdquo; which
is a collaborative web tool that allows you, our QCA members, to edit and
enhance the basic definitions posted here.</p>
<p><b>To show you how versatile this wiki can be, compare the following
entries:</b></p>
<p>A basic, no frills entry: <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><a href="http://dmiemail.quiltersclubofamerica.com/t/620826/77739411/258286/0/" target="_blank">Bargello</a></span> <br />
An entry with a <b>photo</b> added (much more helpful): <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><a href="http://dmiemail.quiltersclubofamerica.com/t/620826/77739411/258287/0/" target="_blank"><b>Crazy quilt</b></a></span> <br />
An entry with a <b>link to a video</b> on the site (great for
techniques!): <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><a href="http://dmiemail.quiltersclubofamerica.com/t/620826/77739411/258288/0/" target="_blank"><b>Basting spray</b></a></span></p>
<p>This is YOUR Quilters Dictionary Wiki, so have fun with it! Here are some
fun things you can do use this new resource and improve it for all members:</p>
<p><b>1. LOOK UP words using the Table of Contents. </b>The TOC is
located on the right sidebar of the page.<b> </b>Click on the
triangular arrows to expand the alphabetical listings.<b>&nbsp; </b><br />
<b>2. VOTE for the entries that you find most useful.</b> Favorite
terms will receive the highest &ldquo;thumbs up&rdquo; rankings, and unpopular ones can
quickly be spotted and fixed. <br />
<b>3. EDIT entries that need improvement.</b> Have a great example,
photo or link to add to a definition? Click on the Edit tab above any
definition to change or add to it. <br />
<b>4. COMMENT on any definition or topic.</b> Have a tip for
preventing bearding now that you know what it is? You can post comments below
any of the wiki definitions just like Althea did here:</p>
<p style="text-align:center;" align="center"><img id="_x0000_i1026" src="http://www.fpimageserver.com/nl_img/QCANEWS/20100108/20100108_clip_image002.jpg" alt="Wiki%20Comment" width="439" border="0" height="312" /></p>
<p>If you <b>need help</b> on how to use this Quilter&rsquo;s Dictionary
you can use the following resources:</p>
<p>Click on the <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><a href="http://dmiemail.quiltersclubofamerica.com/t/620826/77739411/258289/0/" target="_blank">User Introduction </a></span>link in the top of the Table of
Contents on the right hand side of the Quilter&rsquo;s Dictionary for a basic
overview of how the wiki works.</p>
<p>For a more complete set of instructions on how to use or edit the Quilters
Dictionary wiki, visit our trusty FAQ page at <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><a href="http://dmiemail.quiltersclubofamerica.com/t/620826/77739411/258290/0/" target="_blank">Frequently Asked Questions</a></span> and click on the post for <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><a href="http://dmiemail.quiltersclubofamerica.com/t/620826/77739411/258291/0/" target="_blank">Using &quot;Wikis&quot;</a></span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=50021" width="1" height="1">quilter's dictionaryWhere Do You Hail From?http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/11/08/where-do-you-hail-from.aspxSun, 08 Nov 2009 22:18:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:29158QCA Admin1<p><a href="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/communitynews/WDYHF-11_2D00_09_2D00_2009-_2D00_A.JPG"><img src="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/communitynews/WDYHF-11_2D00_09_2D00_2009-_2D00_A.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/communitynews/WDYHF-11_2D00_09_2D00_2009-_2D00_B.JPG"><img src="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/communitynews/WDYHF-11_2D00_09_2D00_2009-_2D00_B.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/communitynews/WDYHF-11_2D00_09_2D00_2009-_2D00_C.JPG"><img src="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/communitynews/WDYHF-11_2D00_09_2D00_2009-_2D00_C.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></p>
<p><a href="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/communitynews/WDYHF-11_2D00_09_2D00_2009-_2D00_D.JPG"><img src="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/resized-image.ashx/__size/550x0/__key/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/communitynews/WDYHF-11_2D00_09_2D00_2009-_2D00_D.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a></p>
<p><span style="font-size:1.5em;">If you would like your name added to the list please post in the <span style="text-decoration:underline;"><a href="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/forums/t/1914.aspx?PageIndex=1">Where do You Hail From?</a></span> thread and tell us where you are from.</span></p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=29158" width="1" height="1">Where do you hail from?Quilting Acronymshttp://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/10/25/quilting-acronyms.aspxSun, 25 Oct 2009 23:17:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:31391QCA Admin14http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/10/25/quilting-acronyms.aspx#comments<p>We have had a lot of members old and new talk about wanting a cheat sheet of all of the acronyms that members use online. I did some very nonscientific research online and came up with my first stab at a Quilting Acronym Glossary. If any of you can think of more to add to this list, post them here: <a target="_blank" href="https://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com:443/forums/t/2223.aspx">Post&nbsp;your quilting acronyms here!</a> &nbsp;and we&#39;ll add them to the master list! </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><b>Common Online Phrases</b></p>
<p><b>AFK</b> - Away From Keyboard</p>
<p><b>BBL</b> - Be Back Later</p>
<p><b>IM(NS)HO</b> - In My (Not So) Humble Opinion </p>
<p><b>LOL</b> - Laugh Out Loud </p>
<p><b>OMG</b> - Oh My Goodness</p>
<p><b>ROFLOL</b> - Rolling on Floor Laughing Out Loud </p>
<p><b>TBR</b> - To Be Read</p>
<p><b>TMI</b> - Too Much Information</p>
<p><b>TTFN</b> - Ta Ta For Now (Britishism) </p>
<p><b>TTYL</b> - Talk To You Later</p>
<p><b>WWIT</b> - What Was I Thinking? </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><b>Acronyms for Family Members</b></p>
<p><b>BSC</b> - Blond Space Cadets (thanks to Spud for this one!)</p>
<p><b>DH</b> - Dear Husband </p>
<p><b>DD</b> - Dear Daughter (or Dear Dog)</p>
<p><b>DK</b> - Dear Kitty (thanks to Sandy H.)</p>
<p><b>DS</b> - Dear Son </p>
<p><b>FIL</b> - Father-in-Law </p>
<p><b>MIL</b> - Mother-in-Law </p>
<p><b>SIL</b> - Sister-in-Law (or Son-in-Law) </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><b>Quilting Specific Acronyms</b></p>
<p><b>BOB</b>&nbsp;- Beginner&#39;s Only Block (swap) </p>
<p><b>BOM</b>&nbsp;- Block of the Month </p>
<p><b>CC</b>&nbsp;- Counter Cut&nbsp;</p>
<p><b>DSM</b> - Domestic Sewing Machine </p>
<p><b>DWR</b> - Double Wedding Ring </p>
<p><b>EQ</b> - Electric Quilt (Quilting Design Software) </p>
<p><b>FMQ</b> - Free Motion Quilting </p>
<p><b>FQ</b> - Fat Quarter </p>
<p><b>FW</b> - Feather Weight (Singer Sewing Machine) </p>
<p><b>HST</b> - Half-Square Triangle </p>
<p><b>KQ</b> - Keepsake Quilting (one of our sponsors)</p>
<p><b>LA</b> - Long Arm </p>
<p><b>LAQ</b> - Long Arm Quilter </p>
<p><b>LQS</b>&nbsp;- Local Quilt Shop </p>
<p><b>MAQ&nbsp;</b>- Mid-Arm Quilter </p>
<p><b>MQ</b> - Mystery Quilt</p>
<p><b>OBW</b>&nbsp;- One-Block Wonder </p>
<p><b>QCA</b> - Quilters Club of America</p>
<p><b>QOA</b> - Quilt Out Loud (the online quilting show on QNNtv.com)</p>
<p><b>QST</b> - Quarter Square Triangles </p>
<p><b>RST</b>&nbsp;- Right Sides Together</p>
<p><b>SID</b> - Stitch in Ditch</p>
<p><b>TOT</b>&nbsp;- Tone-on-Tone </p>
<p><b>UFO</b>&nbsp;- UnFinished Object </p>
<p><b>WOF</b>&nbsp;- Width of Fabric </p>
<p><b>WOW</b>&nbsp;- White On White </p>
<p><b>WST</b>&nbsp;- Wrong Sides Together</p>
<p><b>&nbsp;</b></p>
<p><b>Plus two popular slang terms:</b></p>
<p><b>Froggin&#39;&nbsp;</b>- ripping seams (you know, Rip it Rip It)</p>
<p><b>Reverse Sewing</b>&nbsp;- Ooops! Made a mistake have to take it out and do it again</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><b>Other &quot;Vital&quot; Quilting Acronyms</b></p>
<p><b>BDNQ</b>&nbsp;- Bad Day Not Quilting</p>
<p><b>CAT</b>&nbsp;- Creating Artistic Treasures</p>
<p><b>COP</b>&nbsp;- Creative Ongoing Project</p>
<p><b>DOG</b>&nbsp;- Deciding Ongoing Gem</p>
<p><b>FART</b>&nbsp;- Fabric Aquisition Road Trip </p>
<p><b>FIU</b>&nbsp;- Finish It Up </p>
<p><b>FUN</b>&nbsp;- Fabricating UNlimited</p>
<p><b>HSY</b>&nbsp;- Haven&#39;t Started Yet </p>
<p><b>PEBCAK</b> - Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard</p>
<p><b>PEBSMAQ</b> - Problem Exists Between Sewing Machine And Quilter (invented by Gini) </p>
<p><b>PHD</b>&nbsp;- Project Half Done (as in, &quot;I&#39;m working on my PHD&quot;) </p>
<p><b>PIGS</b>&nbsp;- Projects in Grocery Sacks </p>
<p><b>QFH</b>&nbsp;- Quilt from Hell </p>
<p><b>RUF</b>&nbsp;- Really Ugly Fabric</p>
<p><b>SABLE</b>&nbsp;- Stash Accumulation Beyond Life Expectancy </p>
<p><b>SEX</b>&nbsp;- Stash Enhancing eXperience (or eXcursion) </p>
<p><b>STASH</b>&nbsp;- Special Treasures All Secretly Hidden </p>
<p><b>SQ</b> - Stupid Quilt (invented by Judy Iliff)</p>
<p><b>UFO</b> - UnFinished Object (unfinished quilt)</p>
<p><b>TGIF</b>&nbsp;- Thank God It&#39;s Finished! </p>
<p><b>WHIMM</b>&nbsp;- Works Hidden In My Mind </p>
<p><b>WIP</b>&nbsp;- Work In Progress </p>
<p><b>WISP</b>&nbsp;- Work In Slow Progress </p>
<p><b>WIVSP</b>&nbsp;- Work In Very Slow Progress </p>
<p><b>WIWMI</b>&nbsp;- Wish It Would Make Itself </p>
<p><b>WOMBAT</b>&nbsp;- Waste of Money, Batting, and Time </p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Enjoy!</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=31391" width="1" height="1">quilting acronymsAre you having trouble watching the Tip of the Week videos?http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/09/23/are-you-having-trouble-watching-the-tip-of-the-week-videos.aspxWed, 23 Sep 2009 20:00:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:20566QCA Admin14http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/09/23/are-you-having-trouble-watching-the-tip-of-the-week-videos.aspx#comments<p>
A few of you have mentioned that you&#39;ve not been able to watch the
videos on the QCA site (Tip of the Week, Lesson of the Month, site
how-to videos). Here is some additional information we received from
our video host.</p>
<p><b>System requirements:</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Adobe
Flash Player 8 or higher. If you do not have it, you can download it from
the Adobe website here: <a href="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer">http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer</a>.
&lt;<a href="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer">http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer</a>&gt;
</li>
<li>Microsoft
Windows 2000 or higher including the latest updates, or Mac OS X </li>
<li>A
broadband connection preferably with 700+ Kbps for continuous playback.
Chances are that a dialup connection will be choppy and re-buffer quite
frequently, or may not work at all. </li>
</ul>
<p><b>Windows hardware requirements:</b> </p>
<ul>
<li>Intel&reg;
Pentium&reg; II 450MHz or faster processor (or equivalent) </li>
<li>128MB
of RAM </li>
</ul>
<p><b>Macintosh hardware requirements:</b> </p>
<ul>
<li>PowerPC&reg;
G3 500MHz or faster processor </li>
<li>Intel
Core<sup>TM</sup> Duo 1.83GHz or faster processor </li>
<li>128MB
of RAM </li>
</ul>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>If your systems meets the above requirements and you&#39;re still having
issues, let us know by responding in the comment area. It&#39;s always
helpful to know the following along with your comment:</p>
<ul>
<li>Type of operating system (Windows, XP, Mac etc) and version</li>
<li>Which browser/version</li>
<li>Flash version</li>
</ul><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=20566" width="1" height="1">Using GOOGLE Chrome as your browser?http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/08/20/using-google-chrome-as-your-browser.aspxThu, 20 Aug 2009 18:11:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:13209QCA Admin5http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/08/20/using-google-chrome-as-your-browser.aspx#comments<p>If so, you may be having trouble viewing videos on our site as well as other Web sites. It&#39;s a known issue that you can learn more about by Google -ing &quot;Can&#39;t play videos on Google Chrome&quot;</p>
<p>If this is happening to you, you may want to download the browser Firefox (www.mozilla.com/firefox) as this browser appears to give people the least amount of problems while going through our site. If you have any other suggestions that you have found that helped you solve this issue, please share here by posting a comment. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>QCA Peg</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=13209" width="1" height="1">Two months after launch....http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/07/21/two-months-after-launch.aspxTue, 21 Jul 2009 21:58:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:5824QCA Admin6http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/07/21/two-months-after-launch.aspx#comments<p>We&#39;ve been in our new home for two months now and we&#39;re just so thrilled to see so many of you participating and enjoying the site. As with all Web site launches, the work does not end once the site goes live (though...wouldn&#39;t that be nice??)</p>
<p>There are a few major items we&#39;re working on and we just want to keep you posted on what they are:</p>
<p><b>Online renewals</b> - Currently, not everyone can renew online, but that is in the works. We will give you an update as soon as that option is available! Until then you can renew by mail (if you received a form) or with the ridealong form that may have accompanied your recent issue of <i>Easy Quilts</i>.</p>
<p><b>Membership Expire Date </b>- Some of you may notice that your membership term (seen in My Account/Manage Subscriptions on your green My Dashboard) is not reflecting a renewal you sent in before the new site was launched. We are also aware of this issue and it is being addressed. It is a HOT issue - and rest assured, we will make good on everyone&#39;s subscriptions!</p>
<p><b>Improved FAQs/Help</b> - We also are working to enhance the FAQs and Help features around the site. Behind the scenes work is being done to update the Help area so that you can find the info you want much more quickly than you can now. We&#39;re sure this will continue to evolve for the life of the site!</p>
<p><b>Groups</b> - We haven&#39;t taken full advantage of Groups yet, but it is a powerful feature of this online community software. We wanted to make sure Forums and then Blogs were in good working order. Groups will come next.</p>
<p><b>Ability to post your own recipes</b> - You may be familiar with Quilters Recipes blog. We are working to convert that to a Wiki (stands for &quot;What I Know Is...&quot;; think Wikipedia) so that you can post your own recipes, comment on recipes, and find recipes more quickly through a Table of Contents that wiki can provide.</p>
<p><b>And more</b>.....Of course there will always be projects and ways to improve the site going forward.....we want to add more FREE video content, on the QCA site (separate from QNNtv.com) and we are just about ready to train our first group of volunteer moderators. We&#39;ll keep an eye on the features and areas of the site that you seem to like best and work to enhance those and minimize the areas that are not so much of interest. As always, we appreciate and want your input. This truly is a club (and Web site) designed for quilters by quilters.</p>
<p><b>Show and Tell is a feature that everyone seems to love.</b> Please continue sending in a picture of your most recent project with title, description, dimensions and anything else you think your fellow quilters would like to hear about to admin@quiltersclubofamerica.com.</p>
<p><b>Remember, if you have any customer service issues,</b> the best and quickest way to get them addressed is by writing to customer service directly at info@quiltersclubofamerica.com, or calling our toll free number 888-253-0203. </p>
<p>Hope everyone is enjoying the quickly passing summer! (It&#39;s almost August????)</p>
<p>Best wishes,</p>
<p>QCA Peg</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=5824" width="1" height="1">Blog blog blog....it's easy!http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/24/blog-blog-blog-it-s-easy.aspxWed, 24 Jun 2009 19:20:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:2976QCA Admin3http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/24/blog-blog-blog-it-s-easy.aspx#comments<p>One of the great features of this new website is that each one of you can have your own blog. And the more of you who choose to blog, the more interesting this site will be! Each one of you has something to share - pictures of your quilts, your sewing spaces, ideas, things you&#39;ve learned, a technique you&#39;ve mastered....just to name a few!</p>
<p>We just posted a link in the left hand column which should help you both create and post to your blog: It&#39;s called Blogging in 6 Easy Steps. We hope this will help you get over any trepidation you may have about starting a blog of your own. It&#39;s much easier than you may think, and it&#39;s fun too. </p>
<p>If you still have a question, just comment here and we&#39;ll add the question and the answer to the FAQs portion of the link.</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2976" width="1" height="1">Important Info about your Jo-Ann's Discount Cardhttp://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/22/important-info-about-your-jo-ann-s-discount-card.aspxMon, 22 Jun 2009 19:25:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:2783QCA Admin36http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/22/important-info-about-your-jo-ann-s-discount-card.aspx#comments<p>For those you who are paid members of QCA, your new Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores discount card will be included in your fall issue of <i>Easy Quilts</i> magazine. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Look for your copy to arrive in your mail box the week of July 20th and make sure to check the <b>inside back cover </b>for your card. &nbsp;</p>
<p>Please hold onto your old card until August 1, 2009 when the new card becomes active. &nbsp;</p>
<p>One change for the new card: you will now need to show your QCA membership card, a government issued photo ID and the Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores discount card in order to receive the discount.</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2783" width="1" height="1">SponsorsJo-Ann Fabric and Craft StoresWanted: Events and Recipes!http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/17/wanted-events-and-recipes.aspxWed, 17 Jun 2009 21:07:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:2279QCA Admin4http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/17/wanted-events-and-recipes.aspx#comments<p>Do you have a quilting event you&#39;d like to share with the community? Or a yummy, tasty recipe? We would love to post it! Here&#39;s what to do:</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><b>How to submit an event</b></p>
<p>With so many busy quilters in our community, we know that several of
you must be involved in various quilting events. We&#39;d love to hear
about and share them in our Events section.</p>
<p>Please e-mail the following to <a target="_blank" href="mailto:admin@quiltersclubofamerica.com">admin@quiltersclubofamerica</a>: </p>
<ul>
<li>Please put EVENT in the subject line of e-mail</li>
<li>Your name</li>
<li>Event name</li>
<li>Dates, Time and Location </li>
<li>Brief description</li>
<li>How to get more information</li>
<li>Web site link if possible</li>
</ul>
<p>Please give us up to a week to get them posted.</p>
<p><b>How to submit a recipe</b></p>
<p>Please e-mail the following to <a target="_blank" href="mailto:admin@quiltersclubofamerica.com">admin@quiltersclubofamerica</a>: </p>
<ul>
<li>Please put RECIPE in the subject line of e-mail</li>
<li>Your name</li>
<li>Recipe name</li>
<li>Directions</li>
<li>Additional info </li>
</ul>
<p>Please give us up to a week to get them posted.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2279" width="1" height="1">Wanted: Community Moderators!http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/17/wanted-community-moderators.aspxWed, 17 Jun 2009 19:10:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:2268QCA Admin3http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/17/wanted-community-moderators.aspx#comments<p>Are you enjoying posting on QCA.com? Do you like to meet and help new people coming into the community? Would you like to set up new forum threads, discussions and get others to join in? Then you are exactly who we are looking for! We need a few brave quilters to help us moderate the site. We will train you, of course, and there may be a few extra perks involved as well. (You just never can tell...)</p>
<p>If you are interested, please respond to <a target="_blank" href="mailto:admin@quiltersclubofamerica.com">admin@quiltersclubofamerica.com</a> and put &quot;I want to be a moderator!&quot; in the subject line. In the body of your e-mail, please let us know your name and why you&#39;d like to take this on.</p>
<p>Looking forward to hearing from you!</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=2268" width="1" height="1">How to Submit Photos for Show and Tellhttp://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/05/how-to-submit-photos-for-show-and-tell.aspxFri, 05 Jun 2009 19:35:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:1357QCA Admin6http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/05/how-to-submit-photos-for-show-and-tell.aspx#comments<p>This video will help you learn how to submit your photos for Show and Tell.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>(Please visit the site to view this media)</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1357" width="1" height="1">How do I earn "points" and what are those "bars" under a user's avatar?http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/02/week-of-june-1st.aspxTue, 02 Jun 2009 15:14:00 GMT722ae0af-0843-4f69-80d5-ea157d187469:1218QCA Admin8http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/blogs/communitynews/archive/2009/06/02/week-of-june-1st.aspx#comments<p>
Hey everyone,</p>
<p>Happy June! Summer is almost here - and it sounds like it&#39;s already arrived in several parts of the country. Several of you have asked about the &quot;points&quot; and the &quot;bars&quot; you see under a user&#39;s avatar in the Forums. Here&#39;s an update for you. </p>
<p>The two most common ways you can earn &quot;points&quot; on the site are as follows:</p>
<p><b>Post
Factor</b> - Number of points awarded to
each post and file&nbsp;in forums, galleries and blogs. <b>5 points</b><br /><b>Reply
Factor</b> - Number of points awarded <i>to
a post</i> for each direct reply in forums, galleries and blogs. <b>15 points</b><br /><b><br /></b></p>
<p>In short, you earn points by posting and getting replies to that post.<b>&nbsp;</b></p>
<p>The &quot;bars&quot; you see under a user&#39;s avatar denote is a Member Rating Display which shows how they rank in the community in terms of contributing to the site. If you roll your cursor across the bars, you&#39;ll see this. For example, if you see someone with three green bars, that means they are in the Top 150 contributors to the site. Here is a key:</p>
<p>No bars = not ranked</p>
<p>1 bar = Top 500</p>
<p>2 bars = Top 200</p>
<p>3 bars = Top 150</p>
<p>4 bars = Top 100</p>
<p>5 bars = Top 75</p>
<p>6 bars = Top 50</p>
<p>7 bars = Top 25</p>
<p>8 bars = Top 10</p>
<p>In the coming months, we will announce some fun contests related to
points and posts, so stay tuned! Until then, you can rack up points by
writing fun, provactive posts that folks will want to respond to (and you&#39;ll move up in the contribution ranking, too!)</p>
<p>Until next time, have fun in the community -</p>
<p>QCA Peg</p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://www.quiltersclubofamerica.com/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1218" width="1" height="1">